1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle hood structure disposed in a front region of a vehicle body and supported by the vehicle body in an openable and closable manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, there has been known a vehicle hood structure for a hood disposed in a front region of a vehicle body and a stationary portion of the vehicle body, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-059799. The vehicle hood structure comprises a link member, a first stopper portion, a second stopper portion, and lifting means. The link member is vertically swingably supported in a pivoted manner by a first lateral shaft provided in the stationary portion of the vehicle body, and disposed to extend frontward, The link member has a front end which is connected to and swingably supported in a pivoted manner by a second lateral shaft located on a bottom surface of a rear end of the hood. The first stopper portion is adapted to stop a swing movement of the link member about the second lateral shaft and in a direction toward the bottom surface of the rear end of the hood. The second stopper portion is adapted to stop a swing movement of the link member about the second lateral shaft and in a direction away from to the bottom surface of the rear end of the hood. The link member is designed to be selectively opened and closed about the first lateral shaft. The lifting means is operable, in response to a collision between the vehicle and an obstacle, to forcibly lift the rear end of the hood while breaking the second stopper portion. The second stopper portion is designed to have a strength less than that of the first stopper portion.
In the vehicle hood structure disclosed in the above patent publication, during an operation for opening or closing the hood, the link member and the hood are integrally coupled to each other through the second stopper portion, such as a connection member, and the hood is swingingly displaced about the second lateral shaft in a pivoted manner. Thus, the hood can be smoothly opened or closed, and can be stably kept in its full closed position. Further, in the event that the vehicle during running collides with an obstacle, the second stopper portion, such as the connection member, is broken according to a biasing force of the lifting means to permit the link member to be swingingly displaced upward about the first lateral shaft in a pivoted manner. Further, along with a swing movement of the link member about the second lateral shaft, the link member is displaced away from the bottom surface of the rear end of the hood, and the hood is forcibly lifted. Thus, this vehicle hood structure has the advantage that, an amount of downward displacement of the hood required when an obstacle hits against a top surface of the hood can be sufficiently ensured to effectively absorb a shock.
As above, in the event of a collision between the vehicle and an obstacle, the second stopper portion, such as the connection member, is broken according to a biasing force of the lifting means, and the connection member for integrally coupling the link member to the hood is dropped off. Thus, unless the link member and the hood is integrally coupled to each other using a new connection member when the hood is moved downward to run the vehicle again after action of the lifting means, the rear end of the hood will be inevitably moved up and down due to vibration during running of the vehicle, to cause a problem about occurrence of abnormal noise.